Federation Rising
by countersurfer
Summary: On the Western edge of the Damascus Gulf, a new power struggles to rise. A group of three solar systems declare themselves free of Imperial rule, led by a group of ancient psykers. But, they now face the wrath of the Imperium, and even the most brilliant commanders don't believe they can succeed. But in the darkness of the 41st millenium, there is now a glimmer of light.


**Hello everyone, and welcome to my second fanficition.**

**Please feel free to ask me any questions or comment, and I'll respond as best as I can.**

**Countersurfer**

(Sometime in 40,990 A.D.)

Hector couldn't stop looking out the window of the capitol building, gazing at the decaying hive city. They were approximately 1000 feet above the ground, with a beautiful view of the sunrise receding across the horizon, causing the few buildings with any luster to glimmer. The majority, however, were rusted beyond recognition, with even the living spaces of even the most prestigious and wealthy lords of the planet Gaea appearing like a slum. Most of the world was even worse, with the vast majority of the mutant underclass starving in the streets in every hive city and farming village.

And this was the system's wealthiest planet.

The others, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus, Kronos, Poseidon, and Hades, were even worse off. Here, the lords had enough influence and money to bribe the Inquisition to not touch the mutants. After all, they were the work force for the planet's industry. But the less fortunate planets were subject to raids by Inquisitors and Imperial guards, and the dreaded Black Ships. As Alexander had put it, the entire damn system reeked of oppression.

But on the 7th day of revolution, hope, for the first time in millennia, was in the air. Or at least, that's what they had been announcing. After all 8 planetary governors capitulated and independence had been declared, all classes had partaken in dancing in the streets and festivities; even the poor had something to finally smile about. Hector could see some bonfires still burning down below, but their troubles were far from over. In this very room, he and fifty others were trying to create a new government.

He could see two politicians arguing about something, but he didn't really care what they would call the nation. What does it matter if it's called the Alliance of Democratic Stars or the Damascan Republic? Politics were too convoluted and confusing to Hector; he preferred numbers, hard data that was absolute 100% of the time. It made more sense to him. He turned to his left to watch two redheaded twins, one asleep and the other trying to write a poem about boredom. They called themselves Fred and George from an old book from the 21st century that they both loved to death, but nobody knew their actual names. They were once Vikings from the 11th century, but they were kicked out due to their love of cultural rather than military achievement. Then, a young woman about twenty (looking, at least) years old, slammed her fist on the table and began to lecture the two politicians about the stupidity of their argument. Hector smiled. Joan had always loved challenging people to a good debate or a sword duel. Hector saved her from being burned at the stake by the English in 1431. They had to fake her death by manipulating the bystanders' senses of perception, which was difficult in front of a bunch of soldiers and townspeople. And at the head of the room, sitting behind his desk, was Alexander. He wore the uniform of an Imperial Guardsmen, but Hector knew he had much more extensive military experience. On his left shoulder was a patch with the seal of the Thunder Warriors, the precursor to the current Space Marines. On his other was a picture of Earth millennia ago, with the words "United Nations, First Terran Infantry." He had a modified revolver from the Civil War strapped to his right leg, and a tattoo reading "SPQR" on his arm. On top of that incredibly impressive list of military experience, he had an old bronze Spartan shield, now coated in adamantium, lying to the left of his chair in case he needed to use it quickly.

Uniform or none, Alexander still looked like a soldier. About six feet tall, he had olive skin, dark hair, and a serious expression that almost never left his face. In contrast to this were piercing golden eyes from the power of the Warp that surrounded him. In fact, Hector, Joan, Fred, and George were all psykers, part of an ancient group committed to creating a better place for mankind and to purge the Warp of Demons. The Imperium was their latest project, but by the time it was created, the mistakes were too late to correct. This was their fresh start. This was their redemption.

Then the door suddenly exploded.

Hector was violently thrown back behind his table, and bits of debris rained down on his face, He was no soldier, but Alexander taught him that during a situation like this, he needed to take inventory. Okay. His right ear was ringing. He felt a pain in one of his ribs. Probably broken. Blood was running down his face. He'd had worse. Screams and lasgun fire could be heard from behind the table, so he poked his head out of cover. He saw about twenty guardsmen, armed with lasguns and bayonets, gunning down everyone in the room. A few representatives, guests from nearby solar systems, lay dead on the floor with smoking holes where their hearts should have been. Alexander had taken cover behind his desk, carefully aiming and firing his revolver at the group. Hector heard six shots, and eights guards fell to the ground. _He's too good at that_, Hector thought.

The surviving representatives had taken cover too. Some were hiding behind their tables; others, unarmed, were throwing pencils and pens. One guy even chucked his glass of water. The majority, however, revealed las pistols from their pockets and began firing back. But more guardsmen kept pouring into the room, so now thirty of them had established cover and were trying to push forward.

_That's odd. The guardsmen joined the revolts when they started. Unless…_An Inquisitor burst into the room, covered in power armor and wielding a Force Staff.

"Zanos, you bastard!" Alexander yelled over the sound of battle. The Inquisitor Zanos had arrived a year ago and began clamping down on psyker regulation. Seeing guardsmen lining up suspected witches for the firing squads was commonplace even until a few days ago. But even the soldiers of the Imperial Guard had a conscience, and most of them had helped the people storm the governor's building, forcing his administration to fee to Gaea's moon. But Zanos must have regrouped with some remaining loyalists and broken into the building. How he had succeeded without Hector sensing him, he did not know.

By this point, two loyalist guardsmen had reached Hector's table. The one on his left raised his gun. Time slowed down to the point where everyone was barely moving, and his mind went into overdrive.

_Targets: two guardsmen. Left is raising gun. Weaknesses: one on left has weak shoulder and bone degradation. Right had tendonitis in both knees. Objective: incapacitate or kill._

_ First, sweeping kick with left foot_. Hector saw a future version of himself appear and kick the guardsman's gun. The resulting force caused his gun to aim at the other guard as it fired. He fell to the ground. _Next, elbow to temple._ The projected Hector elbowed the guard. _Stunned, will attempt wild swing with weapon. Employ grab._ In slow motion, he noticed the guardsman's look of surprise as the projection stopped his swing by grabbing the gun. _Left twist._ He was thrown to the ground, and Hector heard cracking and popping sounds. _In summary, one dead, the other: broken am, dislocated shoulder, mild concussion, and unconscious. Estimated time for full recovery: four months. Capacity to kill: neutralized._

Time resumed its normal speed, and Hector instinctively kicked out. The guard on the left shot his companion. Hector elbowed him in the temple. In a rage, he wildly swung his lasgun, but Hector grabbed the weapon and twisted it, knocking him to the ground.

Fred was in front of him, hiding and firing his lasgun from behind his desk. "Did you just do that…flash forward thing?"

He nodded and turned to face the other loyalist guardsmen. But he didn't need to. All of them were dead, and Alexander was locked in a psychic duel with Zanos in the center of the room. Warp energy flowed out of the Inquisitor's staff, but he looked exhausted, as if he were just trying to stay conscious. Maybe it was because he was dueling one of the most powerful psykers of all time. Alexander was surrounded by Warp fyre, his yes glowing gold. When he spoke, his voice boomed throughout the building.

"Inquisitor Zanos of the Ordo Hereticus, you are under arrest for attempted genocide, crimes against humanity, and terrorism." He snapped his fingers and Zanos fell to the ground, writhing in pain. A few rebel guardsmen entered the room and dragged the screaming Inquisitor out. It was now eerily quiet. Tables were overturned, papers were everywhere, and dead bodies littered the floor. Alexander turned to Joan. "What are the casualties?"

Joan closed her eyes for a moment. "We have a total of five representatives dead. Two of them were observers from neighboring solar systems; the others were from Zeus, Hermes, and Ares. But we still have survivors from each planet.

Alexander sighed sadly and sat down on the floor, putting his hands on his face. "The first week of independence, and already we've suffered a massive terrorist attack." Nobody spoke. "Finish up the Constitution. I have to go deal with Zanos." He stood up and walked out of the room.

Dragging Zanos by the ear, Alexander led him to a small Imperial ship docked outside the governor's palace. The trial had only taken an hour; he was found guilty of all charges. Many had scoffed at this formality and wanted to execute him on the spot, but Alexander had managed to convince the representatives that they needed to do this. They needed to show that they could obey their own rules about due process. He would have been sentenced to death anyway, but Alexander again convinced people that there was a more practical use for him. They held Zanos for another week, until the Constitution was finally done.

Although far from perfect, he was proud of it. Everyone was. It had a preamble, declaring its Independence from the Imperium and promised a bill of rights within five years. The actual government was an amalgam of various systems in the past. There were three branches, just like in the ancient United States. However, the legislative branch was a little more like the British parliamentary model. The lower House of Representatives would have people from all planets controlled by the government, all directly elected by universal suffrage. The upper House of Lords met resistance, some complaining that the aristocracy would run everything. However, the nobles were invaluable during the revolts, and they agreed to pay steep taxes in exchange for their own house in Parliament. Alexander was certain that it could be altered at a later date, but for now, money is money. They were going to need as much as they could, especially after the storm Alexander was going to unleash. The President was by far the strongest position, being able to veto the Parliament and make many decisions without their consent. However, Alexander was hopeful that the courts could keep the president in check. But for now, they needed a government that could make quick decisions. War with the Imperium, after all, was inevitable.

Alexander threw a copy of the document at Zanos. "This ship's machine spirit has its coordinates set for Terra. You are to go there and inform the Imperial Council that we, the Federation of Republican Planets, will not live under Imperial rule anymore." More than anything, Alexander was proud of the name for the new empire. It had a nice ring to it, and he had to give credit to Joan for that one.

Zanos slowly picked himself up, laughing. "You fool! Do you have any idea what you're up against?" By informing the Council, you sentence yourself to death! The entire might of the Imperium shall fall upon you! When we descend to destroy this planet, our ships will block out the sun!"

Alexander smiled. "Then we shall fight in the shade," and closed the door.

_That comeback never gets old._ Underneath his self-satisfaction, however, he was frightened. The coming of the Imperium could not be avoided, but he still wanted to make sure someone finally told the council, in the flesh, that people could not take their rule any more. By making Zanos the messenger, he only reduced their time by a few years. The Federation probably now had fifty years, tops. _Time to get to work. _He turned around and briskly walked back to the building.

Tzeench observed the Inquisitor's ship leave Gaea's atmosphere and felt a shiver of glee. At last someone would finally challenge the Imperium! The monolith had lasted too long, and Tzeench hated it with a burning passion. _This galaxy needs a change. But even with Alexander leading, they'll be overrun in ten years from now. The Council would be so scared they would react surprisingly quickly and send an entire crusade fleet. _"Oh, Zanos." He said. I can't stop the Imperium, but I can slow it down. How about a detour, of, let's see…forty five years? Ha! That should give them some time." The ship entered the warp, and was taken into the not-so-tender claws/hands/whatever he has at the moment of Tzeench.

_Wait a minute. Alexander is brave, but he is no fool. He knew ten years wouldn't be enough time, unless he was relying on… a convenient delay?_ He noticed Alexander entering the doors of the capitol building. Just before closing the door, he turned around, looked up at the sky, smiled, winked, and disappeared. Tzeench laughed, completely surprised he had been played by a human. "I like this guy!"

Back on Gaea, Alexander walked through the halls of the capitol building. _Oh, Tzeench_. He thought. _If only you knew._


End file.
